Yellow Pages
MOUNT VERNON — Skagit Valley College trustees voted unanimously Tuesday on a budget that includes a 7 percent tuition increase as well as enough cuts to handle a 10 percent reduction in state funding.
Officials had prepared to deal with as much as a 20 percent funding reduction.
The approved operating budget for 2009-2010 is $29.4 million.
During the 2008-2009 school year, the college saw 255 more full-time equivalent students than were funded by the state, said Mary Alice Grobins, the interim business vice president for the college. During that same time, the Board of Trustees voted for $1.4 million in budget cuts due to reduced state funding.
Grobins said she expects many more people to seek retraining during the coming months as the recession continues.
“It’s reasonable to believe there’s going to be tremendous pressure on our services,” said college President Gary Tollefson. “We’ve done as much as we can to preserve as many direct opportunities for students.”
The tuition increase was approved in May by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The hike represents a $191 increase for a year’s worth of classes for a full-time student.
Trustees also voted to stop subsidizing tuition for out-of-state students. Those students had in the past paid in-state tuition, with the college making up the difference. Based on this school year’s enrollment figures, the change could save the college about $65,000 in the coming year.
Among the budget cuts is a 13 percent reduction to the McIntyre Hall budget. Executive Director Nida Tautvydas said the hall “tightened up” its operations this year and didn’t operate at a loss.
“What we’ve seen, at least for this year, is that people didn’t cancel their events,” she said. “They just found ways to still have their event, whether it’s ordering less food or not having dinner.”
However, Tautvydas predicts a 23 percent reduction in conferences at the facility for the coming year.
Skagit Opera dropped its second performance, she said, and instead will only run “Madame Butterfly” in February and a joint performance with the Skagit Symphony in the fall.
“They are a little bit more cautious, but other groups are doing more,” Tautvydas said.
Other groups are instead expanding their offerings and holding two days of performances instead of just one, she said.
College Board of Trustees President Tom Moser said the college’s mission has been fulfilled by the pared-down budget.
“One of the core values we have as a community college is open access to all,” he said.
This budget year has been hard on everyone involved, he said.
Trustees also voted to elect Don Piercy as the new board president.
Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at .
